


Borrowed and Fractured

by 105ttt



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24831823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/105ttt/pseuds/105ttt
Summary: Green finds himself in a strange place, devoid of all color and sound, after taking a fatal hit for Blue in battle. (Trigger warning for mentions of unreality with some detail and a mention of suicide.)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Borrowed and Fractured

**Author's Note:**

> As noted in the summary, I would like to warn anyone who is triggered by mentions of unreality or suicide to not read this fic.

When Green opens his eyes, he's surrounded by pure white. Miles and miles of it. He holds his hand up to his eyes just to get a glimpse of any other color at all, and after he does so, he takes another look around, sighing as his eyes struggle to get adjusted to the white expanse around him.

It's not bright enough to make his eyes hurt, but it's certainly unnerving all the same, especially since the only sound he can hear is that of his own breathing. There's a feeling in his stomach, a bad one, and he struggles to remember what exactly caused it - or where he was before he ended up here, for that matter.

And speaking of here… where exactly _is_ "here"? It's nothing like anything he's ever seen in all his time of adventuring, and for a moment, a thought crosses his mind - one that makes his heart skip a beat and makes the horrible feeling in his stomach near unbearable.

"Alright, that's enough. Calm down. You're not dead."

He flinches at the sudden noise and looks around for the source of the voice, but it almost sounds like it's coming from everywhere at once, reverberating throughout this seemingly endless white space, and he can't place it.

He soon finds out he doesn't actually need to seek out the source of the voice, as he feels a tap on his shoulder and turns around with a scream. Though he reaches for his sword without thinking, he finds there's nothing for him to grip as his hand awkwardly wavers behind his back. Perhaps even more awkward, however, is the carbon copy of himself standing before him, and though any other person would freak out at the sight, he just sighs.

"I can't even be surprised," he shakes his head. "I see stuff like this every day."

"I'm glad!" The copy gives him a friendly smile.

"Are you…" his voice trails off as he meanders around the copy, noticing its slight glow, "my ghost?"

"Well, I just said you're not dead, so I can't be your ghost."

"How do I know I can trust what you say?"

"Well, you don't exactly have any other options, do you?" The copy says, motioning to the white void around them both. Green scowls.

"Alright. So you're not my ghost. Then what are you?"

"What am I?" The copy echoes back, stroking its chin and pacing before him. "That's a great question."

"You don't know?" He asks, a bit frustrated, unsure if this being is playing with him or not.

"Well, I just came into existence a few seconds ago - when you arrived here, actually."

"Where is 'here'?" He repeats, raising an eyebrow.

"Now that's an easy one! We're in the Four Sword right now."

Green blinks. The copy smiles at him again, silently.

"We're _where_?"

"We're in the Four Sword! Your Four Sword, to be exact."

There's a beat, and then Green drops to his knees, almost comically.

"You're kidding. Please say you're kidding."

"I'm not!" The copy answers with its ever-present smile. "We're in the jewel in the handle of your Four Sword."

"I don't believe that! I was just-"

Green's voice echoes into the void as he suddenly finds his words stuck in his throat.

"I was just…"

The copy tilts its head, still smiling. "Something wrong?"

He looks up to its face and then back down to the floor, searching desperately for what he wants to say. He thinks back as far as he can, but the last thing he can remember is jumping in front of Blue just as something slashes at him…

"And then there's nothing after that, right?"

He flinches and looks up to the copy again.

"Are you reading my mind?"

"I'm not reading it, per se. I just know."

He scoffs. "Is it because you're a copy of me?"

"It's not that simple."

"Then what is it?"

"Well, I guess you could say this place is connected to your mind in some ways. This is a resting place for your soul, after all."

"A resting place?" He says, a bit worriedly. "I thought I wasn't dead."

"You're not!" The copy responds cheerfully. "You _can't_ die."

Green blinks again. "Pardon?"

"Let me say that again in a better way. _You_ can't die."

" _I_ can't die? What's that supposed to mean?"

The copy laughs. "You have so many questions!"

"Well, sorry, but I'm worried! I don't know where I am, or where the others are, and I don't like it here! And you're telling me that this is a resting place, but I'm not dead, and I _can't_ die, which makes no sense-"

The copy places a hand on his shoulder. "Breathe. It's fine."

"It's not fine! I need to leave! They're waiting for me!"

"You can't."

It's so quiet, Green can't even hear himself breathing. He thinks maybe time has stopped, but then he feels pain in his chest and takes a breath.

"What did you say?" He says, keeping his voice as steady as he can but still failing miserably.

"You can't leave. Not on your own volition. You'll need help."

He sighs in relief and doubles over. "So there's still hope! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, sorry!" The copy giggles. "But what I say is true. You can't leave by your own strength. You'll have to wait for the others to come get you."

"And how do they do that?"

"They'll have to put the Four Sword back in its seal, for one thing-"

"But how are they supposed to know that?"

"I'm sure they'll figure it out. After all, they're just not complete without you."

"Oh, don't say that," he shakes his head. "They're fine without me."

"And yet you're still worried."

"Can you blame me?"

"I cannot. You're nothing without them."

Green doesn't protest, and the copy's smile becomes a bit softer.

"That's what you think, isn't it?"

"No!" He finally defends himself, though he hears his voice crack.

"Maybe there's more to it than that, but there's a part of you that says so. And it's not wrong."

"Wow, thanks," Green mumbles, his voice flat.

"No need to get angry! It's just the truth. You are nothing without them, and they are nothing without you."

"They can handle themselves just fine! They don't need me."

"And yet, you can't do anything without them. Your sword is powerless. You feel lost. All you can think about is them and Zelda. Am I right?"

"I mean…" Green hears his voice waver. The copy's not completely wrong - he thinks back to the incident in the Desert of Doubt, how his Four Sword kept losing Force with every swing, how he nearly lost his life in a second, how he only escaped by the skin of his teeth.

"It's pathetic, isn't it?"

Green feels hands on his cheeks and looks to see the copy on its knees before him, holding his face. It's warm, and it makes him feel a little less uncomfortable in this cold, empty space. He almost wants to hold its hands in return, but it's just a bit too awkward, and he's still not entirely sure what this being before him actually is.

"It's pathetic, isn't it?" It speaks softly, smiling kindly as it brushes aside some of the hair flanking his ear, its eyes watering all the while. "Being a copy of someone else. It's a pitiful existence."

Green stares at it for a moment.

"You speak as though you've lived in someone else's shadow your whole life."

"Well, haven't you?" It asks, not harshly, still holding his face. "Did you ever exist before Link split himself?"

"I was Link before that."

"But are you truly your own person now, now that Link is no longer whole? Or do you still feel deep down that you are merely a part of him?"

He's silent.

"Do you exist outside of the Four Sword's power? When Link is whole again, are you still there?"

More silence.

"But you feel real, don't you?"

"Sure I do!" Green hears his voice waver. "What reason do I have to doubt that?"

"Well," the copy says, and it looks to some point off in the distance as it speaks, "if you got stuck here instead of passing to the afterlife, then it must mean whatever sort of soul you have isn't complete enough to pass on properly, right? So, in essence, your soul isn't whole. It's borrowed, fractured. It's not yours to lose. It never has been, and it never will be."

He's heard enough. He pushes the copy's hands away, wipes away the tear that managed to escape his eye, shakes his head, and runs off as far as he can until it bores him, and when he looks back, no one is there. There is nothing but white, nothing but emptiness.

He looks at his hand again to try to ground himself, to reassure himself, but the things the copy said are ringing in his head, and the more he hears them, the more he's convinced it's right, and the more he realizes he really is stuck here in this void unless the others realize what to do - or if they all die without him. And then what happens? Will they finally be able to pass on? As themselves, or as Link? And if Link never comes back into existence before they all die, does that mean they rob him of his life unfairly? After he was selfless enough to bring them into existence, expecting them to fulfill the task set out for him? Does that mean they failed him?

He puts his head in his hands, and he lets himself cry a little, and then he feels a gentle hand on his shoulder again and hears a soft voice so much like his own.

"You'd best learn to get used to this feeling of emptiness, because I get the feeling you're going to be here a while, and, well, there's not much to do except think."

* * *

It can't have been more than a few days by now, but he's grown tired and bored - which isn't weird for a young boy like himself, when he's stuck in a void with nothing to do. It's a miracle he hasn't gone crazy by now, but he realizes quickly that he can't even kill himself in the hopes of escaping this place. It _is_ his "afterlife", and he's truly stuck there. Not for an eternity, thank Hylia, but until the others figure out what to do or die first - and he's hoping for the former.

He tries to speak to his copy, to get any sort of entertainment out of conversing, but their talks always end abruptly when Green doesn't know what else to say, or they end in cynical discussions that leave him feeling worse. Isolation was never good for him, and it's especially not good now that he's stuck with only a copy of himself (or at least, that's what he assumes it is) that's set on reminding him of how fragile his existence is.

But one day, there's a sudden outburst of noise and black staining the white void, and before he knows it, he's being swept into darkness, and he looks back to his copy waving him goodbye with a calm smile.

"You know what this is, don't you?" It asks softly.

Green nods. It's the same kind of darkness that consumed him as he and the others merged back into one, before he lost consciousness for what he had assumed would be forever.

"Sure I do. But what comes next is a blur."

"Then that means you'll see them soon."

"You think Link will let us split again?"

"I think he knows you care about each other too much. And he enjoys the company. He always was a little lonely."

"You're right," Green smiles back. "Thank you for keeping me company."

For once, the copy frowns - but not sadly. It blinks, and then it waves again with the same kind smile on its face, and that's the last thing Green sees as he feels himself fading.

And then he's suddenly back, and the air is warm, and there are all sorts of noises buzzing around him he never bothered to appreciate before, and standing before him are the people most precious to him. He wants more than anything to ask if they're alright, but before he can speak, he feels arms wrapping around his torso and hears someone trying to hold back sobs.

"You _idiot_!"

Green sighs happily, rubbing the person's back.

"Hi, Blue."

"You had me worried sick!" Blue says as he pulls away, wiping his runny nose and feeling the heat in his cheeks. "Why did you do that?"

"I don't know. I just did," Green's voice is unusually calm, but he thinks maybe it's because he's happy to be home.

"That's not an excuse! Don't do that again! You hear me?! Or else I'll kick your ass myself!" Blue pokes Green's chest threateningly, but Green just pulls him back in for another hug.

"Alright, that's enough. Calm down. I'm back."

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Blue whines, and Green just kisses his forehead as he lets himself cry.

Vio walks over and puts a hand on Green's shoulder. "Glad you're back."

"I am too. You all don't know what the hell it's like to be dead."

"You remember?" Zelda asks, raising an eyebrow. Green laughs bitterly.

"I want to forget!" He says, starting to tear up. "It's worse than I ever imagined."

Red gives Green a hug from the side, trapping him in a double hug with himself and Blue. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Green shakes his head. "No, you all need to know for next time."

"There won't be a 'next time'!" Blue protests, but Green smiles at him.

"You don't know that. So we need to be ready for anything."

Zelda puts her hand on his other shoulder. "Just let us know when you're ready, okay?"

Green nods, and for a moment, he just lets himself enjoy everyone's embrace, and he lets his tears flow.

* * *

Green opens his eyes to see a familiar, unnerving white. For a moment, his stomach sinks, and he looks around frantically, taking in the emptiness once more.

Then he feels a hand on his shoulder, and the buzzing in his head subsides, and he turns around.

"You're back? I haven't seen you in a while," his copy says with a smile.

"I try not to get carried away," he smiles back.

"But you had someone you had to protect, yeah?"

"Something like that. Sorry I made you wait."

The copy bows. "Not at all. I only exist when you're here."

"Well, the least I can do is keep you company until I have to go."

Its eyes glitter, and its cheeks grow rosy.

"I'd like that very much."


End file.
